On Saturday I went to Tower Grove Farmer’s Market. At around 11am, there were so many people that I was barely able to walk through. This in itself is a testament to the growing demand for local produce and other products, as Amy said it was not nearly as crowded the previous year. She also mentioned that any produce that had been there (spinach, turnips, etc.) had been cleared out by 9am or so, 30 minutes after the market opened. I was able to have a brief interview with Patrick Horine, the founder of the market and nearby grocery Local Harvest, which carries 50 percent organic produce, and as much local produce as possible when available. I found two articles in the Riverfront Times, one from May 2006 and the other from this month, interviewing him about these two parts of his life. In the former article, it was stated that there are “too many farmer’s markets and not enough farmers” (Roberts, RFT 2006). I asked Patrick if he has accumulated venders from that time, and he said that the market is up to 25 regular venders, whereas there were only 13 two summers past. The farmer-associated venders sell a mixture of items, from shiitake mushrooms to Missouri-native bedding plants to starter tomatoes, lemonade and pizza flour. There are also many people who make and sell their own crafts. He said that few new farmers are coming up, and that there has been only one new organic farm started recently in the area. In his words, “There aren’t enough.” We also talked about how organic food prices have been affected by the global food crisis, and he said that he has seen the same changes occurring in organic as non-organic produce, which I found surprising. Wheat and corn have gone up, making prices in processed foods go up as well, he says. Overall I really enjoyed the market, and am planning on returning there to help Amy out before the term ends. There is a lot of set-up and take-down involved, but when the customers clear out of the market, the venders begin to turn to one another with leftover goods and trade. I got a loaf of bread out of the deal; most of the venders I met were very kind.
The weather at the beginning of the week was less than gracious, with strong winds and cold rain. Two beds of cucumber seedlings were damaged beyond recovery, mostly by the wind. Many row covers were found ripped off of their crops on Monday morning, and those row covers that stayed on became heavier with water, and the weight damaged the lettuce especially. On Tuesday Jenny and I were only on the farm for about 30 minutes, re-seeding the cucumber beds, before it started raining again. During these couple of days the idea really hit home that farmers have a very difficult job, suggesting that their entire livelihood depends on uncontrollable conditions. Luisa and I did some prayerful work about this idea in regards to God’s endless source of supply.
On Wednesday the weather perked back up to being sunny and warm. I went out with Jenny in the afternoon (first time!) and learned how to use the mowing function on the tractor. We also weeded the radishes, which seem ready to harvest. Thursday was colder and drizzly again, but it did not really rain while we were there. We dropped and planted kohlrabi, which is related to broccoli and supposedly tastes like potatoes. After covering the new beds, we went to the carrot bed and hand-weeded there. There was poor germination in most of the rows, and some sprouts were still small enough to mistake for grass. Needless to say it took a long time, as we had to locate and identify each parsley-like carrot top before clearing the ground around it. The pigs are coming next week for sure, and I’m very excited to meet them.

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